A Student Gets Freedom

We don’t get to share stories from this part of our work very often, but we want you to know how important it is to us. We believe that sexual brokenness is the root of abortion and if we want to be effective in the work we do in the centers and post-abortion healing we have to be committed to restoring people impacted by sexual and relational brokenness. And it starts with youth. Hear as a student shares how they were impacted.

“I had been in and out of foster care and the system since I was seven. I moved to a small town several years later where I got involved with the wrong crowd. I started drinking, smoking, and having sex. An older boy started paying attention to me and we started dating. I was 13, he was 16.

I had guidelines about dating and relationships but I didn’t follow them. One night we broke the rules and were driving around together. We ended up getting into a pretty bad car accident and I wasn’t wearing my seat belt. I got hurt pretty bad. Money was an issue so I wasn’t able to go to the hospital. To help with the pain some people gave me three different doses of medications that eventually led to me blacking out.

I woke up the next morning and couldn’t remember anything. I was afraid and panicked. My clothes were next to me and I was in shock. I realized while I was blacked out I had been taken advantage of. I reported it, but no one in the town believed me and the charges got dropped

The next year I entered high school. I wasn’t in this relationship anymore, but I still struggled how to make sense of that night. I felt guilty, dirty, and ashamed. I felt like it was my fault. I was in so much turmoil because no one believed me. For years that night has haunted me and caused me to believe so many lies about myself and feel worthless.

I even had some friends and family that tried help me to overcome it, but I just couldn’t break free. The lies were buried deep.

Recently I got to hear from The Reality Project. The leader was talking about how all people are worthy of love, valuable, precious and that I matter. It wasn’t until that night that it finally clicked. For the first time in three years I feel so much happier! The message really helped me understand my worth and overcome those nagging thoughts in the back of my mind.

I cannot thank the speaker and The Reality Project enough. They are not wasting their time when they talk to people about these issues. I got a lot out of it and I am so thankful!

First Image is so committed to this program that we put over $130,000 toward it every year. We have the privilege of speaking to over 5,000 students per year.

When you support our mission, you are supporting the vital work we are doing with young people to transform their relational and sexual lives. Did you realize that?